The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret: Series One

Every purchase you make through these Amazon links supports DVD Verdict's reviewing efforts. Thank you!

All Rise...

Judge Patrick Rogers puts HP Sauce on everything.

The Charge

"If you want to go deep sea diving with the big boys, you best be
prepared to run into a giant squid now and again."?

Opening Statement

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a foul mouthed style of
American comedy, wrap it around a classically styled British sitcom, and slap it
on IFC? It sounds like it could be pretentious and overwrought, doesn't it? Kind
of like something a hipster would dream up after too much pot smoke and BBC Two.
But in fact, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret is one of
the most refreshing, offbeat, and hilarious comedies in a very long time.

Facts of the Case

The core of the show comes from the character of Todd Margaret, a temp worker
at some dead end office job, who stumbles into the promotion of a life time. The
fact that Margaret is wholly under-qualified, a borderline sociopath, and a
definite pathological liar means nothing to blowhard executive Brent Wilts. As
long as Margaret is skilled enough to sell crates upon crates of 'Thunder
Muscle', a highly toxic and slightly radioactive energy drink, to the
unsuspecting British public, then Wilts can keep his cocaine and prostitute
addiction in perfect form.

And with that, Margaret is shipped off across the Pond and soon finds
himself embroiled in a web of lies that he created so that his woefully inept
social and cultural skills, along with his inability to sell a single can of
energy drink, wouldn't be noticed. There's the sardonic assistant, the cute yet
way-too-sophisticated-for-Todd love interest who may or may not have a thing for
Canadians, and the highly suspect Turks who take a strange interest in
Margaret's nuclear drink.

All of it is a recipe for something strange yet hilarious.

The Evidence

Slapping a befuddled and moronic David Cross in the middle of an old school
British sitcom and letting his creative juices run wild around a delightfully
stellar cast of characters is just about as genius as it comes. It should be
said that I'm not the most expressive person there is when it comes to comedy.
Even when I watch something that's flat out hilarious I'll still only manage a
slight chuckle or little guffaw even if I'm busting a gut on the inside. The
doctor's call it depression or acute social anxiety, but I prefer to call it
viewing decorum. Suffice to say, IFC's newest original comedy show had me in
hysterical fits of laughter from frame one.

It's highly enjoyable and very engaging to watch how one small lie about
growing up in England in order to secure a lucrative job position turns into one
of the biggest criminal hearings in England's history; with Todd Margaret
standing accused of a staggering amount of felony charges. He's a bum, he's kind
of a jerk, and he is wholly out of touch with reality. And in that great British
tradition of comedy, the laughs are constantly mined from elongated scenes of
misunderstanding and the outlandish situations that Margaret finds himself in
one step after another.

Whether it's his massive suitcase containing all his worldly possessions
being mistaken for a terrorist bomb and then detonated, or that Todd constantly
is unable to wrap his head around the concept of exchange rates and how
irrelevant Snooker is even in England…The Increasingly Poor Decisions
of Todd Margaret has an old school British esthetic injected with that
self-deprecating every man lilt that makes so much of David Cross' work
sublime.

But most sublime is that the audience should hate Margaret for his stupidity
and his continual necessity to make an ass out of himself with his awkwardness
and egotism. Yet, David Cross understands that he walks a fine line with the
character and he instead chooses to aim for pity instead of hate with his
characterization. Sure, Todd may set back the way Americans are perceived abroad
by about two decades, but hey, at least he's trying even if he's far from
earnest. And there are actual moments of heart within the show as we watch Todd
break down and finally accept his uselessness…It's endearing and sobering
all at once. That these few moments are soon followed up by hilarious rape gags
and pedophilia jokes doesn't diminish the impact.

All in all, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret is one
of the most refreshing and original comedy shows in a long time. In an age of
stagnant and meaningless sitcoms, David Cross has given us hope.

In terms of this single disc DVD release, the anamorphic widescreen video
transfer is certainly not going to blow you away considering that this show is
trying to capture that old school British visual style, so the colors are muted
and the image is soft, but it adds to the character of the show much more than
it takes away. The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track is similarly understated but
the dialogue is crisp and the soundtrack is given some bouncy textures.

But where the DVD makes up for the lack in technical achievement is in the
special features. Not only do we get commentaries for every episode, with
episode 5 even having two, but we get commentaries with cast and crew that are
both candid and hilarious. There's also a host of deleted scenes, an extended
version of episode one, short and long form featurettes that flesh out the
behind the scenes creative pull of the show, a Q&A with the cast and crew,
and a blooper reel. One can't really ask for more.

Closing Statement

With a host of special features, including extended episodes and hilarious
commentary tracks, this DVD is the best way to enjoy The Increasingly Poor
Decisions of Todd Margaret.

The Verdict

Not Guilty.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret: Series One a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.